Sleep
by FlamingReaper
Summary: Sleepy cuddles


Johnny curled tighter against Ash, large arms securely wrapped around the smaller animal. Ash only grunted softly in her sleep, small face nuzzling into Johnny's neck. The pair had gotten so used to sleeping with other people in their homes, that the utter silence that was left behind left them frazzled, exhausted, and nervous.

In-spite of Lance being a total bastard, Ash had gotten used to the noises he had made awake or asleep. Plus, she hadn't slept alone in two years, so her bed seemed a so much larger to her then before. It hadn't helped that in a fit of rage, she destroyed her bed and then revenged shopped with the one of the credit cards he'd left behind. Her new bed was so much better, soft yet firm. The credit card technically wasn't his, but his parents, for 'collage expenses'. For the collage, Lance hadn't gotten into. He used it on himself almost every day, and smoothly explaining away the odd expense or two that showed up on their bill. Like several amps and his guitar. She had managed to buy her own through hard work. The young porcupine frowned in her sleep at old memories trying to make themselves nightmares before cuddling closer towards her protector.

Johnny, however, was mostly different. He had gotten so used to his dad and the gang, that any sounds that didn't echo in his home made him twitchy. Silence, to him, meant danger, it meant lost, it meant alone. It also meant death. In the wake of his mother's death, their home had been silent of any noise for weeks. Sarah-Beth had been the noise in their home, the music that echoed throughout it. She'd been a classically trained pianist and delighted in teaching her only child. Her little miracle she called him. Sarah-Beth had been in a bad car accident as a child and was told she'd never be a mother. She proved them wrong of course, though at the cost of her own health. She died of illness when Johnny was six. Marcus hadn't stopped grieving, even after all of these years. Neither had Johnny. Both had developed their own ways of coping. Marcus with heists, Johnny with music. The larger gorilla had filled the empty silence with his loud voice, making plans or doing something else. Johnny had felt secure in that, the proof his dad was still alive. Now he didn't even have that.

When Ash had asked him to move in to help pay the rent, Johnny leapt at the chance. They'd known each other for over a year at this point, so the thought of living together wasn't so odd. Ash had been lucky in getting her apartment, it had a spare bedroom, and it was the price of a single. Lance had used it as a practice room, though it had been cleared out of his stuff. Johnny loved the cozy room, it made him feel secure, safe. Like at home. Two months into the living arrangement, the two ended up falling asleep together on the couch. It had been the most secure the two every felt. It had led to embarrassment in the morning, followed by awkwardness, to then, and finally, followed by them sharing a room semi more permanently. They are still two teens that needed their space on a regular occasion, thus them still separate rooms.

They'd always be at their best when they did sleep side by side, more relaxed, and especially more focused at work. With their combined incomes, there was always food in the house, which meant they ate regularly. Ash hadn't been used to having constant food in the house, since Lance would basically sit at home all day and eat while he practiced. Rosita, of course, made sure that there was plenty of healthy food to go along with the unhealthy and had a tendency to do drive by care packages. Meena and her family, mostly her mom, weren't that much better, though they also gave them hoards of cuddly blankets too. Not one to be outdone, Rosita started bringing cloths. The two moms were now competing on who could out mom the other for kids that weren't even theirs.

Marcus, on seeing how healthy his boy looked every time he visited, only felt relief. Johnny was the only thing he had of his precious Sarah-Beth, he wanted Johnny happy,safe, and healthy. The large gorilla had laughed when he heard of the drive by care packages that were being dropped off at their apartment, and he laughed even harder when Johnny pouted at him. Silently, the gang leader had vowed to return both mothers kindness, somehow. Johnny had started having issues sleeping after Sarah-Beth died, and either had to have some sort of noise, or curl up with Marcus. The poor boy had spent two weeks straight sneaking into the room Marcus had been sleeping in, to cuddle his only living parent. Most of it was Johnny being terrified that his dad was going to die too, and it had him acting severely clingy with Marcus. Marcus had only brought it up once, angered that Johnny wouldn't let him out of his sight. The larger male still had nightmares of the horrified shrieking of his boy, claiming that Marcus would die too if Johnny didn't watch him.

So, because of moving in, sleeping became sacred, worshiped, and loved when the two were together. The soft snores and sleep sounds were the lullaby the two drifted off too, with the occasion radio playing in the back round. If the radio was on, it was only on classical, something Ash had quickly gotten used to. Classical meant a soothed and relaxed Johnny. Silence possibly meant nightmares and the two clinging to each other in terrified panic. Tonight had been a rare one where exhaustion had won out and the two just needed to sleep. Johnny wasn't used to being the protector when he slept, that had either been his dad, or Tony or Barry, but he liked the roll when it came to Ash. It meant he knew she was safe.

Johnny shifted in his sleep again, turning only slightly to wrap himself further around the tiny bean in his arms. Ash let out a relieved sigh before curling tighter against Johnny, the two finally finding peace in each others arms.


End file.
